The Heartwood passport, please

Outrider thread and/or naturalist thread. :)

Early that morning, before night and day had entered into their 12-hourly negotiations about whose turn it was to shine (or not, as the case may be), Grimm left the Caldera. Not permanently - but for the first time since arriving. Whilst Fox and Peregrine bounced around in bed, there was precious little to do; and perhaps there wouldn't be much to do until the red damsel dropped her sprogs, either.

There was a frenzy that accompanied the birth of pups that Grimm frankly missed, no matter how much she complained about the poop, vomit, and mischief. So far, she had made a few acquaintances, even friends.. but that was it. Life carried on in much the same way as it had back home.

For that reason, she made a beeline for whatever lay north of the lake. It took a while - the sun was high in the sky (presumably; the sky was a haunting grey) - but eventually she arrived within sights of a hibernating forest. From a distance, it looked utterly naked; as though a thousand giant spiders had fallen on their backs, stretched their legs into the air, and died like that.

Some time later, Grimm was in the thick of it. She moved among the slumbering trunks like a silky black shadow, her white sock flashing with each step. The floor of the Heartwood was thick with fallen leaves, and the trees differed from those that wrapped the Caldera. Here, she spotted trees with special qualities - Dogwood, for instance, produced berries that could make stuff spray out of both ends at once. She made a mental note of the existence of the species, and moved on, cataloging the resident flora as she went.

I hope it stills counts for a trade if it's not with a wolf! Shiv could tell her some stuff about the Heartwood :D

While Shiv was ecstatic about most everything, her find today had set her heart hammering, excitement building up and threatening to overwhelm the little bird. Shrill chirps echoed throughout the forest as she toyed with her newfound treasure, the sound of fluttering wings accompanying them if one drew closer. While it wasn't the rarest of finds — really, it wasn't even notable — it was now Shiv's precious. The squirrel that had holed it away had no chance of getting it back.

With a flick of her head, the magpie threw the acorn into the air, shrieking happily as she scrambled to catch it again. Most times, she failed to grab it in time and it fell back into the snow, severely battered and with multiple peck marks. It was uncertain if her new toy would even last the rest of the day. Picking it up by the tiny nub on its top again, Shiv looked up to the trees and wondered how big of a fall it could handle. Perhaps it would split and reveal whatever secrets it held inside its tough outer shell!

In a flurry of snow and leaves, the bird flew up into the branches, hopping along the tree tops as she tried to find a suitable place to drop it on to. Perhaps a rock, or a log or...a wolf! Pausing, Shiv suddenly focused on a large, dark figure making its way through the forest, stopping every so often to seemingly check out their surroundings. Perfect! He seemed distracted and Shiv assumed that wolves had fairly thick skulls. Unknowingly, he would now be partaking in her experiment. For science.

Flittering through the branches, the magpie kept a keen eye on the stranger, situating herself right above where he would wander if he kept to his current path. With an excited gurgle, she then leant forward, releasing the battered acorn.

He had offered his services to the gray-eyed female, to become one of her founding pack members, but it did nothing to silence his growling stomach. The giant lumbered around the place, looking for any kind of food. Carrion, recent dead, or otherwise. But to no avail.

He did, however, see a white flash in the darkness every now and then. The hybrid's eyes widened in curiosity. Was it food? He trailed the flashing white beacon for a while, hoping his huge frame wasn't making too much noise, which it most likely was. But he managed to get closer and closer, until he eventually found it. And it was not food. "How're ya doin' t'night, shayner?"

Grimm had the distinct sense that she was being followed. More than once, the shadowy Caldera wolf whipped round in hopes of catching her stalker, but to no avail. The only other creature around was the scheming chatterbox above her head, whose wide-mouthed cackling could only mean that avian mischief was afoot - or that the bird was wholly retarded. Grimm watched it bounce and flutter above her head, and in the time she had both eyes pointed skywards.. she was ambushed by a bear.

At least it looked like a bear. Grimm shrieked like a spanked banshee, rearing up and away from the enormous unknown. When she did, she messed up the acorn's intended trajectory, and it hit her square on the nose. The resulting wail of agony forced smaller, less troublesome birds from their hiding place and brought Grimm to her knees forearms, both front paws held over her throbbing nose and eyes streaming. "Auuuwwww," she whined, blinking through the tears at the behemoth that had startled her. Shayner. He had definitely said shayner. "Was that you?!" she demanded snarlingly, feeling like her face might at any moment decide that it was in an abusive relationship, call it quits, and move on.

Oops, I must've shadow-posted you, Alisha, sorry! haha

Unknown to the magpie, another was about to ruin the experiment. The acorn plummeted to the ground but instead of hitting her targets head, it landed squarely on her nose, failing to crack open. Shiv gave a shriek of annoyance, echoing her subjects own cry. Smaller types of her own kind flew into the air, startled by the sudden noises. Shiv did not join them, instead strutting angrily along the branch she was on, shaking the snow off it as she did so. It was going perfectly! What had torn the wolf off his path?

Oh, her...her path.

Shiv stopped her enraged pacing for a moment, leaning forward again as the dark wolf snarled in a distinctly female voice. Odd, Shiv was certain she was a male. Mentally shrugging it off, she bobbed her head over a branch, suddenly spying the perpetrator who had disturbed her research on acorns and wolfs skulls. Woah. If she thought the wolves she had met so far were big, she didn't know what big was. The magpie studied the hulking, shaggy-furred figure, curiosity urging her closer so she could inspect him more thoroughly. She gave pause, though, glancing back at the female who had keeled over in pain, seemingly accusing the stranger of...the acorn, perhaps? Releasing an amused warble, the bird launched herself from her current branch, landing on one closer to the pair to watch the meeting between the two large creatures.

It's ok!

Many things happened at once the moment he approached the dark figure. He saw another flash of black and white in the air, a bird no less, and as his vibrant eyes flickered upwards to identify said avian, there was a distinct sound. The sound of one object hitting another.

The black wolf winced and had visible tears in her eyes and she let out a moan of pain, which would have given Audrey a flicker of pity had it not been for the accusation she directed his way afterwards.

"Excuse me?" The massive wolf growled, his metaphorical feathers ruffled. "Oh hell no. Look, dear, I was just coming over to say hello. You should direct your anger to that nudnik up there." He gestured his massive head to the trees, where the magpie was sure to be lurking. He had a problem with carrion birds; ravens, crows, magpies. They were a rare nuisance in the cities and his last owner's estates, but out in the wild, they were everywhere. When they weren't a blessing in finding food, they were a curse in that they loved to pick on him because he was heavy and slow.

"Nudnik?" Grimm questioned in bewildered anger, squinting her bleary eyes at the smear of black and white that had just descended. "You little.. you did that on purpose!" she shouted at the bird, which probably didn't understand her anyway, and launched at the feathery cretin with every intention of ripping its wings off and wearing them to the next Teekon MLP meet-up.

The red-furred creature rumbled in reply, with a motion in the magpie's direction. She quickly ducked out of sight, attempting to avoid their gaze. If she was lucky, perhaps they would attack each other, what a sight that would be! Shiv hadn't seen two wolves battle before. She wondered if they fought like birds did, with continuous pecks at each other and nips and scratches — obviously without the wings and feathers, of course. She made her way to a lower branch to see if she could further initiate a duel between the two creatures, before suddenly the darker one lunged towards her.

The magpie shrieked again, this time in fright, and leapt off her branch in a flurry of flapping wings. She narrowly missed the female's sharp claws, and perched upon a branch just out of reach of the two, tapping her beak against the branch like a viking would against his shield. "Of course, silly wolf," she called after she had calmed down slightly, tilting her head towards the female. She regarded her passively for a moment before giving an angry glance to the larger male. "Was conducting experiment. But big dog had to ruin fun!"